Reader's Watchdog: Contractor agrees to repay for work not done on Des Moines home

Nov. 23, 2013

Georgios Symeonidis / Polk County Jail/Special to the Register

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Des Moines contractor Georgios Symeonidis has agreed to pay restitution to a California couple who complained about his work to the Des Moines Register Readerís Watchdog.

Symeonidis, 52, owner of American Artisan and Traditional Homes, has agreed to repay Kalai and Raj Govender of Citrus Heights, Calif., the $40,000 they gave him to renovate a home on Kingman Boulevard. The couple had purchased the home for their son, Krushen, a medical student at Des Moines University, according to Des Moines Police Sgt. Jason Halifax.

Kalai Govender told the Readerís Watchdog in August that Symeonidis promised to make the home the best looking one on the block. By last spring, the renovation had ground to a halt.

Symeonidis told me ghosts were a reason why the work stopped. He talked of screams his workers heard and a photograph that he said exploded after he picked it up in the house.

Later, one of his subcontractors told me that Symeonidis bounced $3,000 worth of checks and owed him about $8,000 for his work on the Drake neighborhood house as well as two of Symeonidisí own residences. Symeonidis now faces charges for allegedly writing those checks to the plumber, according to Halifax.

Symeonidis and one of his employees, Arteum P. Brodeur, also were accused of stealing GPS surveying equipment worth about $12,000 in April. Symeonidis was convicted of second-degree theft earlier this month.

He struck a deal with prosecutors to take an Alford plea on a charge of fourth-degree theft. A Polk County judge gave Brodeur 109 days in jail for time already served.

Brodeur, 20, who has past convictions for theft and burglary, wrote on court declaration papers that he works for Symeonidisí company, American Artisan. Yet, he also claimed he had no income.

Lee Roodís Readerís Watchdog column helps Iowans get answers and accountability from public officials, the justice system, businesses and nonprofits. Contact her at lrood@dmreg.com or 515-284-8549.